Along with the release
of mainstream Microsoft Office 2007 applications such as Word, Excel,
Outlook, PowerPoint and Access; Microsoft also updated other products in
the family. One of these include the visual communication and
diagramming tool Visio. Most persons probably have an indea of what
Visio does, if you have ever had to create a diagram in PowerPoint or a
Flowchart you have some basic concepts already of what Visio can do.
This new update primarily continues on its same path as the previous
release by providing a plethora of options for creating sophisticated
diagrams that are more than static. In this review we take at look at
the Professional SKU, a Standard edition is also available in addition
to a Technical version for Visual Studio Developers.

Some of the highlights of version 2007 include:

·

Integrate data into
diagrams

·

Show off your data in
data graphics

·

Visualize complex
information by using PivotDiagrams

·

Generate and view Visio
digrams with other Office 2007 applications

For persons running older versions of Visio, there are
no radical departures interface wise. Visio 2007 for instance does not
utilize the new Office Fluent interface introduced in core Office 2007
applications, so there is little to the relearn.

Features:

Quickly Find and Use New
Templates

Visio 2007 includes specific tools to support the diverse
diagramming needs of IT and business professionals and lets you
create a broader range of diagrams with new templates, such as the
ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library) template and
the Value Stream Mapping template. Use the predefined Microsoft
SmartShapes symbols and powerful search capabilities to locate the
right shape, whether it is saved on a computer or on the Web. You
can also save time by quickly accessing templates you use often. In
the new Getting Started window, find the template you need by
browsing simplified template categories and using large template
previews. Locate the templates you used recently by using the new
Recent Templates view in the Getting Started window.

Get Inspired by Sample
Diagrams

If you're not sure how to best display your important data, Visio
2007 can help by making it easy to find new sample diagrams. Simply
open the new Getting Started window and use the new Samples
category. View sample diagrams that are integrated with data to get
ideas for creating your own diagrams, to realize how data provides
more context for many diagram types, and to determine which template
you want to use.

Display Data Attractively in
Diagrams

The Data Graphics feature lets you display data attractively in
diagrams, and you can choose from a number of data formatting
options. With a single click, display data fields as callouts next
to a shape, position fields in boxes below a shape, and place fields
of data directly on top or to the side of a shape. You also have the
option of easily refreshing data in diagrams, thanks to the new
Refresh Data feature. If data conflicts arise, easily resolve them
by using the Refresh Conflicts task pane.

Connect Shapes Without Drawing
Connectors

You don't have to be a professional graphic designer to build
interesting diagrams--Visio 2007 gives you the tools to connect
shapes without drawing connectors. The new AutoConnect functionality
connects shapes, distributes them evenly, and aligns them for
you--all with only one click. In fact, when you move the connected
shapes, they stay connected and the connectors automatically reroute
between the shapes.

Identify Trends and Issues

One of the benefits of creating diagrams is that you can more
readily identify trends and issues and then act on them. First, you
might choose to make your diagrams even smarter by linking them to
data to provide a more complete picture of a process, project, or
system. Then it's a snap to visually explore information to identify
key trends, issues, and exceptions, and then act on them. Finally,
you can analyze, drill down into, and create multiple views of
business data to gain insight into it.

Reach a Broader Audience

The Theme feature in Visio 2007 makes it easy to format the colors
and effects (text, line, fill, shadow, and connector formatting) in
an entire diagram with a single click. It even uses the same color
palette as other 2007 Microsoft Office system programs so that you
can design professional-looking Visio diagrams that match your
presentations and documents. New 3-D Workflow shapes, which were
designed with the new Theme feature in mind, command attention,
while the option to save in PDF or XPS file format can help you
reach a broader audience. You can even view Visio diagram
attachments from within Microsoft Office Outlook 2007.

Automatically Connect Diagrams
to Data Sources

With the new Data Link functionality, Visio 2007 gives you the
option of automatically connecting diagrams to data sources, such as
Excel 2007 spreadsheets or Access 2007 databases. You can also save
time associating data with shapes by using intuitive new linking
methods, which populate each shapes' properties (also known as shape
data) with data values. For example, you can link all the shapes in
a diagram to rows of data from connected data sources by using the
new Automatic Link Wizard.

Effectively Track Reports

Visio 2007 also gives you the flexibility to generate reports
directly from within Microsoft Office Project and Microsoft Office
SharePoint Server that track project tasks, owners, roles,
responsibilities, and depict complex project ownership structures.
And it's no problem to add new details as they become available
because Visio 2007 automatically modify the reports as project
information changes.

Share Diagrams With Others

Visio 2007 gives you the option of saving your diagrams as Web pages
complete with navigation controls, a shape data viewer, reports,
choice of image format, and style sheet options. On intranets and
extranets, anyone who's using Visio Viewer with Windows Internet
Explorer can view the diagrams from within Internet Explorer.
Additionally, shared workspace functionality supports collaboration
with Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services. Visio diagrams saved on
a Windows SharePoint Services sites can be opened directly in Visio
2007 from the site, and even checked in and out from within Visio
2007. Specifically, when a diagram is opened from a Windows
SharePoint Services site, Visio 2007 opens a Shared Workspace task
pane that contains all of the information in the workspace,
including other files, members, tasks, and links.

Easy Collaboration

With the Track Markup feature, multiple people can collaborate on
the same Visio diagram. Generally used for reviewing a diagram and
incorporating feedback, Track Markup helps make each reviewer's
contributions clear to other reviewers and to the person who
eventually incorporates the revisions in the diagram.

Customize and Extend Visio
2007

You have the option of extending Visio 2007 programmatically or by
integrating it with other applications to fit your industry-specific
scenarios or unique organizational requirements. Visualize custom
solutions with Visio 2007 diagrams, such as Unified Modeling
Language (UML), data flow, and Microsoft Windows user interface
diagrams, by using templates in the Software and Database category.
The Visio 2007 software development kit (SDK) includes extensive
samples, tools, and documentation to simplify and speed up
development of custom applications. The SDK provides a set of
reusable functions, classes, and procedures for the most common
Office Visio 2007 development tasks and includes support for a broad
range of development languages, including Microsoft Visual Basic,
Microsoft Visual Basic .NET, Microsoft Visual C# .NET, and Microsoft
Visual C++.

Visio Drawing Control

Using the Visio Drawing Control, developers can embed and program
the Visio drawing environment in custom applications. This opens up
new opportunities for solution integration, making it easy to
include the power of Visio 2007 in any smart client application.
Because the Visio Drawing Control can be integrated with the host
application's UI, developers can take advantage of Visio drawing
functionality as a smooth part of their application without having
to develop similar functionality themselves. In addition, you can
control several new features in Visio 2007 programmatically,
including connecting to a data source, linking shapes to data,
displaying linked data graphically, connecting shapes to one another
automatically (AutoConnect), monitoring and filtering mouse-drag
actions, and applying theme colors and theme effects. Each of these
features has an associated application programming interface (API)
that makes it possible to control the feature programmatically and
new objects and members associated with it in the Visio object
model.

Installation

If you have installed
Office 2007, you have installed Visio 2007, the process was a breeze and
installed in less than 3 minutes. After installation I checked for updates
and was presented with the Service Pack 1 update which I gladly installed.

Interface

Not much has changed, but
the Getting Started reminds me of Office Publisher 2007, here you will see a
small gallery of templates you recently used. On the left are Template
Categories which feature a list of popular diagram types, some of these
include Business, Engineering, Network and General to name a few. If you
wish to not utilize a template, simply hit the new button on the Standard
toolbar and start from scratch. Visio’s TaskPane will present a search field
from where you can start discovering shapes to incorporate in your diagram.
I notice that searching for shapes can take a rather long time and results
are not specific to the query given. For instance, I searched for ‘Computer’
and was given a wide array of choices such as a PDA, Workstation, Cray
(interesting enough) and all sorts of models. Yes, they are all computers
but I would have liked the results to be a bit more specific. When I did a
search for ‘desktop’, I was presented with various objects, which included
the ‘Windows Desktop’ icon, Document shredder, Fax machine and other
irrelevant results. So Visio’s search results left little to be impressed
by, I hope this is something they improve on in a future release.

Another concern was the
shapes, they are basically the same ones I have been seeing since at least
Visio 4.0 and I would have hope that some of Office 2007’s and Vista’s
visual aesthetics would creep in. I guess many persons who use the product
are contented with the look of these pictorial representations for Microsoft
to continue using them. Dragging icons on the canvas also seems clumsy, I
wish the Shapes gallery supported a simple double click action.

Linking Data
With Your Shapes

Data Link really is a
visual way to connect data sources and rows and is made easy by the new Data
menu in Visio 2007. It brings up a quick wizard that allows you to choose
different data sources such as Office, Excel or even SharePoint including
OLEDB and ODBC data sources. After the wizard completes an ‘External Data
Window’ appears at the bottom of the diagram. The Visio Team has focused on
making this just a three step process:

Connect to a data
source

Link rows in the data
source to shapes in the Visio diagram

Display the fields of
data on top of the shapes using Data Graphics

Linking the rows of data is
quite easy, you simply drag a row out of the External Data Window and
release on top of a shape on the canvas. Multiple shapes in the diagram can
just as easily be linked up at the same time by using the Automatic Link
Wizard. Viewing data on the shapes is done by the Data Graphics feature
which allow you to view data multiple ways on a shape. For instance you
could have text displayed around a shape, databound widgets that can change
size according to data, different icons that reveal or hide on a shape based
on data, change color of a shape based on data. Data graphics really make
shapes in Visio not only visually dynamic but also visually communicative.

If you are involved with
managing and detailing processes Visio can be a great tool for such
individuals. Visio includes new templates that make visualizing workflow
information to make steps understandable. You also have the ability to
incorporate information about the steps in the diagram with the option of
highlighting and updating if necessary.

Constructing Diagrams

This has also been simplified with a new feature called
AutoConnect. It works by simple process of drag and drop, but when you drag
and additional shape you drop it on one of the blue arrows that appears when
you hover over the first shape. This process aligns and spaces it correctly
in addition to connecting to the first shape which results in faster
construction in fewer steps. Also, if you have a shape selected in the
shapes window, instead of dragging and dropping you can just click on the
blue arrows to add a shape to the page.

Pivoted Diagrams

You are probably used to
seeing and hearing that word associated with Office Excel, but Visio 2007
has added a visual dimension. To start using it, choose the Pivot Diagram
template from the Visio Welcome Screen, after which a wizard will then begin
called ‘Data Selector’, it will help you to choose the different data
sources you would like to incoporate, options include Excel, Access, SQL
Server, SharePoint list, OLE/DB or ODBC. Once the data has been selected it
will be gathered into a single shape, displaying a sum total of all the rows
in your data. If you want to make shapes relate better with information
Pivot Diagrams gives you and other persons and easy way to define, search
and communicate relevant data the way you want it. The ability to integrate
and take advantage of Data Graphics is also a highlight that improves on how
information further be presented in a graphically rich way.

Working With Themes

Improvements to themes are
a welcome change since Visio has evolved so much over the years from being
just a technical diagramming tool into a rich visual communication platform
that is better integrated with products in the Microsoft Office family such
as PowerPoint. Formatting is probably one of the tough areas most Visio
users will encounter, but at the same time some would consider to be the
easiest. Formatting objects in Visio 2003 for instance is rather time
consuming and the results are not as good or similar to other Office
products like Word.

Themes really is the answer
to this problem and results show. With a pre-defined set of colors and
effects, it allows you to format the entire document one time. You can
choose from a number of line, fill styles, text formatting and shadows that
make a great combination and look just way better than before. Visio 2007
provides about 36 sets of Theme Colors and 14 sets of Theme Effects, and by
mixing and matching between these two, there are hundreds of formatting
combinations. You can also define your own Theme Colors or Theme Effects.

Colorizing complex shapes
provides better visual asthetics, so instead of seeing a two toned washed
out color, results are more detailed. Speaking of shapes, although, some are
still retro Visio 4.0 style, Visio 2007 introduces a new of 3D style shapes
that are part of the workflow stencil shapes. The Visio Team notes ‘They
are great for showing different departments in a company or different stages
of a typical business process’.

Overall I am impressed with
the 2007 release, in addition to improving on its technical merits, Visio is
also focusing on the aesthetics that end users want in their diagrams. The
product continues to integrate lovely with other technologies and products
in the Office family. Although a lot of stencils have not been updated with
21st century graphics, I can see there is an ongoing effort to
improve. The lack of the Office fluent theme is something I surely hope I
will see in the future, in addition to improvements to search results and
speed. I also would like to see Visio take advantage of the Smart Art
graphics tools introduced in Office 2007. I like the new theming
capabilities and data graphics especially. The ability to make shapes more
intelligent and dynamic makes for a product that will surely make processes
and visual communication even more exciting.